


Conversing with Franklin

by angelrizen_17



Category: Tattoo Atlas - Tim Floreen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Before Shooting, Franklin's never a test subject, I APOLOGIZE, M/M, Mice, Probably ooc, Shooting never happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-18 12:40:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11874654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelrizen_17/pseuds/angelrizen_17
Summary: Memorable conversations Rem has with Franklin.





	1. Scratch and Stare

The first real conversation Rem ever had with Franklin Kettle went exactly the way he had thought it would. Weird and uncomfortable. He wanted to know what the strange boy was drawing in his notebook though. That's what he told himself at least. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had caught Franklin looking at him in the locker room, or that he himself had been staring first at the blue-black haired boy. Nothing to do with that at all. 

Rem probably shouldn't have expected anything less than awkward though. Not only was it Franklin Kettle he was going to attempt to talk to but he had screamed at the boy and had called him a pervert. Not the best response on his part. Especially now that he had this weird fixation on the boy. 

"Do you like to draw?" Rem asks. They were alone in there class at the moment, being the first people to arrive, and the teacher had stepped out. 

Franklin's furious scratching pauses for a moment and he glances toward Rem. His eyes don't reach Rem's though, and when he answers it's that dull emotionless voice he always has. "Not really... just something to do." His scratching continues and it's as if Rem hadn't said anything at all. 

"What do you draw?" Rem asks after a long awkward pause. Franklin doesn't bother to stop this time, but Rem notices the way he pulls the notebook a bit closer, hiding it even more from Rem's view. Rem didn't see why, Franklin was two rows away from him. Rem would have to stand to really get a good look at anything he was drawing. 

"People." He answers simply, his voice empty. 

"Cool..." Rem responds. He wasn't sure what he was expecting. There was no reason why Franklin would want to talk to him and no reason why Rem should care, and he didn't really. He got his answer, that was enough. Something at the back of his mind told him to keep talking though. He was busy racking his brain for something else to say when Franklin continued for him. 

"You like drawing." It wasn't a question, or didn't sound like one, just an observation on his part. 

"Yeah... I like to draw and paint." Franklin gives an absent nod. And that was it. The class began to fill after that so Rem turned back to face the front of the class. 'Well that wasn't terrible I guess,' he thought to himself. 

Throughout class, Rem heard gentle scratches of pencil against paper from Franklin's direction. It was one of Rem's favorite sounds, but that wasn't the only reason he noticed it. 

His curiosity eventually got the better of him and he glances over. It was toward the end of class and most everyone had their heads down and working in silence. Rem had been halfway listening to the sound of Franklin's pencil all class but he hadn't noticed at first when it stopped. Now, it was suddenly too quiet with the sound gone. Rem looks over and finds that Franklin has his head rested against his palm just like he had at the beginning of class. Only now, instead of looking at his notebook, he was looking at Rem, much like he had in the locker room. Roaming and with an odd intensity. As soon as he notices Rem watching though, he looks away and his eyes go blank again. 

Rem looks back to his own paper as well and tries to clear his thoughts. He needed to concentrate and do his work. Franklin probably wanted nothing to do with him as it was. No matter how hard he tried though, he just couldn't do it. Franklin's eye were drilled into his mind, not that the boy himself wasn't already. 

The bell suddenly rings and startles Rem out of his thoughts. By the time he’s collected his things most everyone is out of the room, including Franklin. He stands and follows the flow of the students out of the room, trying not to be too disappointed by that fact.~


	2. Apologies

Rem’s second real conversation with Franklin is nearly as uncomfortable and awkward as the first. 

Their world history teacher had assigned a project to the whole class that required them to work in pairs. Rem had been excited at first. Not about the project, but about the fact that he would get to work with one of his friends. That is until a list appears on the screen which only meant that they had assigned partners. 

The class as a whole had let out a groan which the teacher easily ignored and goes to ramble on more about the project. Rem’s ears go deaf to her words though as he searched his and his partner’s name. He felt stomach sink a bit when he finally finds his name and looks at the name under it. ‘Of course it has to be him,’ Rem thinks to himself. He couldn’t help but to steal a glance back at the blue-black haired boy who had been furiously scribbling away in his book. 

So here he was, in the library, with Franklin Kettle, trying to get something useful for the project out of the boy. Franklin wasn’t budging though. He had said no more than three words in the hour that had been sitting there, and he didn’t seem too keen on speaking up anytime soon. 

Rem lets out a sigh, deciding that if he’s going to be doing all the work on this stupid ass project, he deserves a break. Right at that moment, his mom texts him. He picks up his phone and unlocks it, the picture filling up his screen. It’s a white metal cage with four or five mice in it decorated with a wheel, food bowl and water dispenser. The message that comes next makes Rem groan inwardly. 

Mom: Mind taking care of these for awhile?  
Sent 4:17 PM

Me: Do I have to?  
Sent 4:18 PM

Mom: Please Rem, it won’t be forever.  
Sent 4:19 PM 

Me: … Fine  
Sent 4:22 PM

Mom: Thank you  
Sent 4:23 PM

When the conversation ends Rem groan again. Only this time, it’s audible. He drops the phone back on the table, not even bothering to close it. 

“You have mice?” Franklin asks curiously. For a second, Rem’s a bit stunned. It was the first time Franklin’s voice had held any sort of emotion to it, or at least of what Rem could remember. He quickly shakes himself out of it though. 

“I do now.” He replied, his voice more stony than he means it to be. He winces inwardly, but if Franklin cared, he didn’t show it. 

“You should bring them next time.” He states, as if we were talking about a notebook or something not alive. It’s a stupid idea but Rem can’t help to notice the light in Franklin’s eyes. He was still blank faced and his voice had gone back to being the same empty voice it had always been when he talked. But his eyes seemed lighter somehow, and Rem found himself enjoying the view.

“Because the teachers definitely won’t notice a cage full of rodents under my sweater.” Rem retort. Franklin breaks his eyes away from Rem's phone and looks up toward his face, once again stopping before he meets his eyes. 

“Oh, nonsense. You’re bag would be a much better place to hide them.” It almost sound sarcastic. Rem almost laughs. He manages to hold it off by biting his cheek, but it’s a close call. 

“Actually help me with this project, and I’ll consider it.” Franklin stares at him for a long moment, as if he’s really considering it. 

“Sorry, I didn’t think you would want help from a pervert.” His tone is cold and once again Rem is struck by how odd it sounds to hear something in his words, and not just emptiness. When his words finally hit Rem though, he can’t help but to feel a bit on edge. ‘So he was bothered by what I said,’ He thinks to himself. For a long moment, they sit in a tense, uncomfortable silence that physically makes Rem want to squirm. He suppresses it but when he finally looks up a Franklin ready to defend himself, he can’t do it. Franklin, like usual, doesn’t quite meet his gaze but as Rem looks at him, he swears he can see hurt in Franklin’s blue eyes. At that, Rem swallows his pride. 

“Look Franklin… I’m sorry about what I did and said.” Rem says, trying to put as much sincerity into it as possible. “I shouldn’t have done that, especially since I was guilty too.” He continues, only this time mumbling and with a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks. 

Franklin is watching him, almost analyzing him, as he looks at everything but Rem’s eyes. Of course, he avoids those. 

“How would you like my assistance then?” He wasn’t forgiven, Franklin’s voice told him that much. His voice still had an unmistakable chill to it but if he was gonna help now, Rem couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Could you just help me find some facts about the War?” Rem ask. Without so much as a nod Franklin opens his textbook, which he hadn’t even touched till now, and begins to flip through it’s pages, hopefully turning to the chapter on WWII.


	3. Mice

The third memorable conversation Rem had with Franklin was about a week after their study session in the library. They had talked since then but only when on the topic of the project or when Franklin would ask about the mice. It was starting to worry Rem a bit with how into the mice he was. He couldn’t understand the big deal. Especially now, since the very first thing Franklin does upon entering his room, without even asking, is go to the cage and take one out. 

“You realize those are lab mice right?” Rem asks. He doubted his mom would bring infected mice home, but still, he kept contact with the little creatures to a minimal. 

Franklin doesn’t respond to him though, seemingly to in awe by the mouse in his hands. It was the small brown and white one, the only one that wasn’t a solid white with red eyes. Franklin was staring at him intensely, gently running his thumb down the mouse’s back. Oddly enough, the mouse seemed content with the action, completely unafraid and calm. Rem couldn’t even open the cage without them all running to hide. “He likes you.” Rem states, dropping his backpack to the floor and sitting on the edge of his bed. 

Franklin glances toward Rem, and Rem swears he can almost see a bit of a smile on Franklin’s lips. “I like him too.” 

“I know.” Rem deadpans. “You wouldn’t shut up about them. Remember?” Franklin just kind of shrugs and turns his attention back to the mouse. Rem pulls his backpack on to his bed and begins pulling things needed for their project out of it. He finishes setting up and turns to Franklin with the intent of asking him if he’s coming, but stops when he sees the scene before him. 

In the time it took Rem to set up, Franklin had pulled two more of the mice out of the cage and had two of the small rodents in his hand while the third, the spotted one, was making his way up the odd teens arm, clinging to the fabric of his long sleeve shirt. What really caught Rem’s attention though, was the small smile on Franklin’s lips as he watched the little creatures sniff and skitter about. Unlike the others the Rem had seen, this one was very clear and there was no doubt in his mind that what he was seeing was actually happening. There was also no doubt in his mind that he was a bit entranced. Fuck, Franklin had a nice smile. 

Rem clears his throat and Franklin’s smile immediately drops and he turns to the teen sat on the bed. Rem missed his smile almost immediately but decide that this wasn’t the time to start admiring Franklin again in anyway, especially since the locker room was probably still pretty fresh in Franklin’s mind. “You gonna stand there all day with the mice or actually help?” it came out a tad harsher than he had meant it too but Rem’s attempts to add a smirk at the end to lighten it. 

“I don’t know… the mice seem to be better company than you already.” Though he gave away not facial expression to show he was teasing, there was a certain tone to his voice that gave it away. Rem’s face breaks into a small smile and while Franklin reluctantly sets the three mice back into the cage. “Seriously though, I think I do like the mice more than you.” Franklin mutters and I fake a hurt expression.

“I suppose that is fair, while it makes me sad I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Kettle.” Rem sasses. Franklin looks at him almost, seemingly in shock for a moment before retorting. 

“No worries. I like you more than most human being at the very least, Braithwaite.” He plunks down on Rem’s rolly office chair and wheels over towards the bed, stopping just short of being within reach of the teen sat on it. Rem tries not to think about how close he is, especially with how intense Franklin is staring at him. 

“That so?” Rem asks, watching the blue haired teen. Franklin doesn’t respond but there’s something about the way that he’s staring back at Rem that makes the latter want to squirm. Franklin still wasn’t quite meeting his eyes directly but somehow still seemed to be analyzing from the outside in, and it was jarring in more ways than one. It was like he was trying to read Rem’s thoughts and see into the depths of Rem’s brain. Tear him apart like specimen in a lab to find all the interesting stuff inside. It was intimidating and scary all at once but intriguing all the same. And while Franklin was busy dissecting him, Rem couldn’t help but notice how nice Franklin’s eyes were. ‘Fuck, his eyes are nice too.’ 

Rem shakes it off though, and drops his gaze from the boy in front of him.

“Ready to work then?” Rem asks, a slight shakiness to his voice. Franklin remains silent but does role even closer to the bed, so he can properly see their project before him. Rem, again, tries not to notice how close Franklin is, less than a few inches away. He also tries not to notice how much he doesn’t mind the small distance, and actually kind of enjoys it. Again, he shakes it off though. ‘Really not the time, Rem,’ he reminds himself. 

For a long time they’re silent, only exchanging words when pointing out things or suggesting where something should go on their poster for WWII. It’s not uncomfortable or tense in anyway though. It was a calm quiet that Rem usually only experienced alone while lost in a painting, not with another person around, especially not Franklin Kettle. He usually brought about the opposite effect. 

This continued until Rem’s mom calls up to Rem for dinner, scaring Rem out of his trance and causing Franklin to look up curiously. “Didn’t realize it was so late already.” Rem mutters.

“Yeah, I should probably head home.” Franklin say, empty voice back. He stands, and begins gathering his things silently. 

“You could stay.” The words are out of Rem’s mouth before he can really think about them. ‘Fuck,’ He thinks.

“No, that’s probably not a good idea.” Franklin says robotically. It threw Rem off, how suddenly Franklin changed back to his old self, reserved and off. Especially now that he knew there was more to Franklin than that. He wasn’t going to let it bother him though, even if in a small way, it did. 

“Well, I’ll walk you to the door.” Rem mutters, standing and taking a step towards his bedroom door. 

“No, I think I would just rather take the window.” At that moment, the blue-black haired teen rips open the window and jumps out onto the roof. Rem is frozen in shock before suddenly dashing to the window and calling to Franklin. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Rem asks as Franklin is scooting away and toward the edge of the small roof area. 

“Leaving.” Franklin deadpans. “Parents aren’t really my thing.” It must be his form of explanation for the odd behavior but Rem can’t help but still be bothered slightly. 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Rem’s voice comes out sounding a little more desperate than he means it to, and he silently curses himself for it. Franklin freezes at the edge of the roof and turns to look back at the boy standing in the window. He watches Rem for a moment, analyzing him, before answering. 

“Of course, can’t abandon the mice, can I?” His eyes are intense and somehow, Rem feels like the words have a deeper meaning. There was nothing suggestive about the words themselves, but that’s exactly what the words felt like… suggestive. And it made Rem squirm.

“Right… see you later then.” Before Franklin can respond, Rem slams the window down and walks away from it, out of view from where Franklin was sat. ‘What the fuck Braithwaite? Get a hold of yourself.’ Rem takes some deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. ‘The fuck was that about?’ He thinks to himself. 

After a moment, Rem slowly peaks out the window and finds the Franklin is gone. He slowly releases a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and steps away from the window and heads down to dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late!


	4. Warmth

Rem and Franklin had agreed to meet up in the library to touch up a bit on the project and work on there separate essays together. Rem would never admit it, but he was a little excited to go quietly work alongside Franklin for the next half hour. He realized that they would only probably say a handful of words to each other but he had actually started to enjoy even the quiet moments in Franklin’s presence, and he had a feeling, Franklin did too.

Now he just had to sneak away from the gang.

“Well, I’m off to the library.” Rem declares and starts heading away from the others. 

“Hanging out with the freak again?” Tor asks a snide tone to his voice. 

“Yep, working on the project.” Rem sighs without stopping. While he still enjoyed his friends he didn’t really appreciate how they talked about Franklin anymore. He had become something of a friend and he didn’t want any part of it anymore. He waves, not listening to what Kelsey yells behind him, and walks out of the cafeteria. He’s sure that he’ll be the hot topic at the table today. 

He walks into the library and finds Franklin at the farthest table from the door. The blue-black haired teen is either writing or drawing, Rem can’t tell which from this distance. He signs in and heads over to the table. 

He concludes quickly that Franklin is drawing. The pencil is flying across the page in quick careful movements, and when Rem approaches, Franklin quickly shuts the notebook and puts it away. He never let Rem see his drawings even after claiming there was no reason for the behavior. 

“One day I’m going to steal that thing.”

“Not if you want to sleep at night.” Franklin threatens, and Rem chuckles.

~

“These are dark.” Franklin observes as he looks through some of Rem painting and drawings. 

“Indeed.” Rem says distractedly. He was finishing up the last paragraph of his paper and he didn’t want to get distracted now. Franklin was already finished with his which is why he was currently quietly exploring Rem’s room with the brown and white mouse sitting on his shoulder. 

Rem was furiously typing and not paying attention to Franklin at all which he soon regrets. He doesn’t notice how still Franklin goes or how intensely he is staring at the canvas in his hand. He just continues typing and when he finally finishes the last sentence he breathes a sigh of relief. “Fucking finally.” He whispers to himself. He saves the document before finally looking up at his companion. In an instant, all the blood drains from his face. He would recognize the mix of blues and reds and blacks from a mile away.

“Uh.. um, that’s just something I’ve been working on.” Rem breathes, knowing it’s useless to try to play the painting off as someone else. 

The colors and shapes bent and molded to recreate the scene of Franklin holding the mice and smiling. The lines weren’t perfect and the colors were more vibrant than the neutrals of his memory, but there was no way Franklin did not recognize the boy as himself. 

Franklin was deadly quiet as he stared at the painting, seeming almost entranced with it. He gently runs his fingers over it, specifically over the mice portrayed clinging to the fabric of his sleeve. Of course that would be his favorite part. “The mice are in the wrong spots.” He finally says in a soft tone. Rem assumes he means the two mice in his hands at the time and not the one on his sleeve. He remembers that one clearly, it was the one that had caused Franklin to smile.

“Because they were definitely the subject of my painting.” Rem sasses and gets up to take the painting back. He was starting to feel painfully embarrassed now that the shock of Franklin finding the piece had worn off. Rem hadn’t intended for Franklin to ever see the painting… or anyone one for that matter. 

Franklin keeps a hold of it though even after Rem tries the pull it from his hands. 

“It’s really good.” It’s such a quiet statement that Rem almost misses it while trying to take it away still. Rem stops and looks at Franklin who is still staring at the painting with so much intensity that it looks like he’s could burn a hole through it. But even with the intense stare, there’s also softness in his eyes that Rem had never seen before now, even softer than how he looks at the mice. Rem suddenly feels a bit of heat rise to his face and a proud bloom of warmth in his chest. ‘He likes it.’ Rem thinks to himself. It hadn’t occurred to him before that moment that, even though he never planned for Franklin to see it, he wanted the other teen to like it as much as he himself did. Besides the damn eyes of course. 

“You just insulted it.” Rem states. 

“Constructive criticism.” He shoots back, a playful tone to his voice. “You really should fix them though.” He finally lets go of the painting and Rem nearly drops it from the unexpected action. 

“I’ll think about it.” Rem offers softly though he has no idea how the mice were sat in his hand so he has no idea how to fix it. 

At that moment he hears the front door open and his mom calling out to him that she got off early today. Though that usually means they get to eat something better than take out for the night, which usually excites Rem, he feels annoyed by her sudden presence in the house. Franklin is already shoving his books back in his bag and heading for the window before Rem’s mom can even ask what he wants for dinner. 

“You know you really don’t have to go. She’s not poke or prod at you.” Rem says jokingly. The look Franklin throws him though causes the teasing smile on Rem’s lips to drop. “You o-”

“Here.” Franklin shoves a notebook into Rem’s hands and Rem immediately recognizes it as the notebook Franklin sketches in. It’s old, covered in stickers and has ‘Franklin Kettle’ scrawled in messy writing along one of the edges. “Bring it back tomorrow, or I’ll cut you.” And with that, he was out the window and off the roof before Rem even has time to say goodbye. 

Rem watches as Franklin runs down the street for a moment before looking down curiously at the book Franklin has forced into his hands. Even before him and Franklin had started to become friends, he had been curious to know what was in this book. For as long as he’s known Franklin, the teen had always carried this book around. And now it was in his hands with its owner running down the street away from it. Now the question was… what did Franklin want him to do with it exactly?

“Rem?” His mom calls from downstairs. Rem jumps and shoves the book under his pillow like it’s something taboo.

“Coming!” He calls back. He exits the room, heads downstairs and, for now, pushes the book to the back of his mind.

~

After dinner, he says a quick goodnight to his mom and heads upstairs. He didn’t tell her that Franklin had been over earlier. The look of sheer doubt and almost fear that Franklin had thrown him earlier was still etched into his. He didn’t know what that was about, but he felt that Franklin would rather his mom not know that he was in her house. 

Once he reaches his room, Rem pulls out Franklin’s notebook from under his pillow and sits at his desk. It felt odd holding the book in his hand, wrong somehow. But Franklin had given it to him, so he assumed that he was allowed to look in it. Why else would Franklin leave it?

A small squeak comes from the cage next to him. He looks over to find the spotted mouse looking at him curiously through the bars. He would find it odd but he couldn’t help but to see the similarities between Franklin and the mouse now. No wonder they got on so well. 

Rem opens the cage and carefully scoops the spotted mouse out, who for once doesn’t try and run away from him. Rem sets him on the desk and the mouse skitters over to the notebook.

He watches the mouse for a moment as it noses at the book and then curiously explores his desk. It somehow lifts his anxiety, and he can finally open the book. 

It has that old book smell to it and the pages are full of scribbles and writing that Rem simply glances over. By what he can tell. They’re just random thoughts written down at random times in no particular order. Some pages have scribbles of knives and guns. There’s some that have entries about different people and things. Even ones about his friends and himself that make his stomach drop in shame. He also makes note that there’s a good chunk of pages torn out around the middle of the book. He wonders if it just coincidence or if there was something specific that Franklin didn’t want him to see. 

The thought flies from his head though when he turns the next page and is met with his own face staring back at him. It’s done in pencil and its scratchy and messy but it’s definitely him. He runs his fingers lightly over the lines in awe. 

And when he finishes looking at that one, he's met with yet another scotch of himself. This one clean and clear. It was of him leaning over a desk doodling on some notes. His eyes are focused and and he’s biting his bottom lip between his teeth and it looks so real that it amazes Rem. 

He flips the page again.

This time he’s met with his eyes specifically. They look soft and there’s a bit of a crinkle to them that gives away that he was smiling though it wasn’t shown shown. 

And again.

The next one is of him on his bed with his legs crossed and a computer sat on top of them. Rem in the sketch is looking at the screen with full focus. It’s easily the most well done so far and Franklin had to of imprinted the image into his brain to make it. It was perfect and it made Rem feel warm on the inside. Heat rises to his cheeks at the implications of the drawings. They were all so perfect and beautiful. It oddly made Rem feel the same about himself, though he had always thought himself average before. 

He continues flipping through. He finds more sketches of himself in various poses and situations. And he finds more drawing of his eyes as well. ‘Franklin must like them’ he notes to himself. 

When he reaches the end and there’s only empty pages he shut the book and puts the mouse back in its cage. He felt odd, drained though all he had done was flip though the book.

He changes, slips into bed and thinks about the drawings in Franklin's book and what they could mean. He knew how they made him feel. It made him feel warm and embarrassed and like that was something worth looking at, something to admire. That sent an odd chill down his spine. But had Franklin intended that to be the message, or had he got it wrong. What would happen if he did get it wrong… what would happen if he got it right? That that is how Franklin saw him. As something beautiful. 

He decides that that is a thought for later and closes his eyes. Whatever it meant, he hoped that his painting had inspired the same warmth in Franklin that the sketches had in him.~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update it so late! I've made this chapter a bit longer as an apology. I hope you liked this section. this was only supposed to be like five chapters but the way it's going it going to be longer so we'll see what happens... Thanks for reading! ^~^

**Author's Note:**

> I love both of Tim's books and I think they deserve a bigger fan base than what they do. Hopefully one day they will... but until then, guess I'll just keep writing for my fellow Floreen fans who, while love the books, find the endings unsatisfying (maybe that's just me though :P). Anyways, I hope you guys like this! It might take me some time to get chapters up, so just warning you. Thanks for reading! ^~^


End file.
